Breathe
by pandacheeze
Summary: Semi AU. KidxNami. The redhead captain falls into the sea during a battle. Just when he was about to lose it all, a certain mermaid comes to his rescue.


Disclaimer: One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda, not me

This unlikely pairing was inspired by a dream of mine. Kid is still captain of the Kid pirates, but Nami here is a mermaid, not a Strawhat member.

* * *

Blue.

All that Eustass "Captain" Kid saw was the color of the cerulean ocean.

One moment he and his nakama were fighting another pirate crew on the enemy's deck, then some fucktard decided to swing a piece of the broken mast at him from behind. And Kid just _happened _to be standing near the railing.

So now he was falling facedown into the blue hell for fruit users. The redhead Supernova barely had time to pull his goggles and take a deep breath as he hit the cold water. Bubbles rushed and gurgled past his ears. The force of the impact knocked his fur cape off his form.

Kid absolutely despised the feeling of being rendered immobile, vulnerable, so _helpless_ underwater. Even though he loved and trusted his nakama with his very life, he didn't want to burden them with the task of fishing their hammer of a captain out of the water every now and then.

His crew was accustomed to keeping an eye on him during seaborne battles. If they didn't see their redhead captain wreaking havoc anywhere on board, then there was a high possibility that he had fallen into the ocean so someone had to dive overboard and save him.

All Kid could do now as he sunk into the crystal clear sea was stare at the sand and coral below. The seabed in this zone didn't seem too deep so it wouldn't be a problem to find him. He just hoped one of his friends would reach him before he ran out of air.

Seconds passed by as the man sank deeper and deeper, slowly but steadily. The light from the surface waves crisscrossed on his muscled back.

_What the hell is taking them so long?, _thought the captain of the Kid Pirates. His lungs were starting to ache.

Maybe this time nobody in his crew had noticed that him fall overboard? Or were the enemies preventing them from following him?

A large school of rainbow fish swam past Kid. Their scales glinted beautifully in the light, but all that Kid could see at the moment was his entire life flashing by.

_Am I really gonna die this time? Who's gonna look after the crew? Those vandals need a leader… They need me._

He didn't even notice an orange creature swimming towards him at full speed from a distance.

Kid's lungs were burning by the time he reached the sandy seabed, nose mere inches away from the top grains.

_No, not seabed. Deathbed... My fucking deathbed._

Suddenly, the pirate captain felt two hands tug at the gun harness that encircled his torso from behind. The person used the leather strap to hoist Kid up from the bottom of the ocean, and higher still.

Kid's lungs couldn't take it anymore and he started to choke, eyes squeezed shut, salty water invading his mouth and airway.

Oh, how it _burned._

He vaguely sensed that his savior hurriedly swam around to the Supernova's front. Nimble hands cradled Kid's head. A set of soft lips sealed his own. The remaining salt water was sucked out of Kid's mouth and replaced with a long breath of air.

It was the most memorable breath of air in Kid's damned life.

The pale man breathed in whatever he could greedily and held his breath again. He could feel the person's lips detach from his own as one of those gentle hands helped push his jaws shut. The rogue captain opened his eyes once more, expecting the figure in front of him to be one of his pirate crew, even though he couldn't remember anyone with such soft skin.

Instead, he saw a naked woman.

An unbelievably beautiful one, too.

Her brilliant orange hair was flowing freely around her head. Her lips were smudged with his mauve lipstick. She wore no clothing, but was adorned with a pair of pearl earrings and some bejeweled bracelets. The blue ocean in the background contrasted against her fair skin. It was when Kid's eyes ventured further down that he realized she had an orange fish tail in lieu of legs. The fins were translucent and frilly, reminding him of a goldfish's tail.

_A mermaid._

He had seen mermen before, but never this up close and personal.

Kid's gaze returned to her angelic face.

The distorted rays of sunlight from above casted over both of their features. They remained staring at each other for a while, Kid with his eyes wide open, the mermaid with a knowing smirk.

Then she grabbed Kid's gun harness at the front and swam upwards, hauling the captain's limp body along.

He could see the bright surface now. The light of day getting closer and closer…

Both finally broke the surface and Kid gasped for air. The mermaid towed the tired captain towards a rock and tried her best to push his heavyweight form onto it. Now with his upper torso out of the seawater, the captain found enough strength in his arms to haul himself up.

As soon as he got his sorry ass on the hard surface, Captain Kid literally ripped his goggles off, sat on his heels, and slicked his blood red hair back for a better vision. He looked around to find the enemy's ship as well as his own nearby. He was relieved to see that it was his nakama who were forcing the other crew to walk their own plank. Those who refused to comply would simply be hauled overboard, either manually or by Wire's trident.

Even though he had merely escaped death (he was still heaving for Christ's sake), Kid couldn't help but grin. He was proud of how merciless his crew was. The Kid Pirates weren't notorious for nothing!

"Good job, you bastards!" the soaked Supernova shouted at his shipmates. Killer's head turned towards the direction of the redhead so fast he was sure the blond would get whiplash. Killer gave orders to the other shipmates and it seemed that they were preparing to lower a lifeboat.

Now that he knew that his nakama were safe, the pale fruit user turned his attention back to the mermaid, who now had her arms folded on the rock beside Kid's left knee, curious eyes looking up at him, frilly tail swishing above the water surface.

Drops of seawater slowly dripped from Kid's defined nose tip and chin as he regained his breath. Fierce golden eyes stared down into liquid grey ones.

The male hooked his forefinger beneath her chin and used his thumb to wipe the mauve mess off her lips as gentle as he could.

Kid was a pirate. Pirates were anything but grateful. However, to have his life saved by someone was just.. a whole other level. Furthermore, Eustass Kid did not like being indebted to anyone.

"How can I repay you?" he asked the mesmerizing creature softly as he released her chin and wiped his thumb on his pants, making it seem even more gaudy.

She remained silent, but her large eyes diverted to the largest golden bangle around his left wrist and stayed there. The corners of her lips curved upwards.

In the past, the redhead had stabbed a couple of people's hands when they tried to pry his beloved bangles from him. But for her, he did not waste even a second to take the left bangle off. He was going to take the right one off as well but a wet hand stopped his actions.

"One bangle for one breath. That's enough," the mermaid said. Then she raised her left hand in front of him. Kid slipped his bangle around her wrist, but it was too wide for her thin wrists, so he pushed it further past her other bracelets until it fit snugly around her upper arm.

"You're now wearing the bangle of the infamous Eustass 'Captain' Kid," the male declared with open arms and a smug grin.

The sea creature pushed herself away from the rock and propelled backwards lazily. She raised her left fist in the air, "And you've just been saved by Nami."

The sun glinted on both Kid's and Nami's solid gold bangles, two identical pieces that would be forever separated hereafter.

Nami eventually disappeared under the waves, leaving Kid to wait on the rock for his trusty first mate.

He stood up and rested his hands on his hips, turning proudly towards the approaching boat.

* * *

I know, so many visual imageries lol


End file.
